Ruthie Foster's New CD Streets Next Week, Starts Tour

Ruthie Foster celebrates the release of her new album, Let It Burn, on Tuesday, January 31 with an appearance that night at Los Angeles’ Grammy Museum. The performance and interview there will be available to fans throughout the world on a web simulcast. The event kicks off a tour that continues into late spring with stops in all major cities including Austin for SXSW (March 14–16). The initial dates are co-bills with acclaimed Mississippi singer-songwriter Paul Thorn.

The Grammy-nominated, Blues Music Award- and Austin Music Award-winning artist, who calls Texas home, recorded the new album at New Orleans’ Piety Street Studios with many of the city’s venerable musicians, resulting in an infusion of fresh spices into her already rich sonic gumbo.

The New Orleans players — the Funky Meters’ rhythm section of bassist George Porter Jr. and drummer Russell Batiste, guitarist Dave Easley, and renowned saxophonist James Rivers — collectively infuse the tracks with a groove-based, in-the-pocket vibe. The addition of Hammond B3 wizard Ike Stubblefield, who has toured and recorded with everyone from Curtis Mayfield to Eric Clapton, gives the album a jazzy organ-combo feel. Finally, legendary gospel singers the Blind Boys of Alabama and soul icon William Bell add extra depth to the project’s surprisingly diverse collection of cover songs and fresh originals.

Highlighting Foster’s strengths as an interpreter, Let It Burn features covers of an eclectic group of songs originally performed by the likes of Adele, The Black Keys, Los Lobos, Johnny Cash, The Band, Pete Seeger, Crosby, Stills & Nash, John Martyn, Robbie Robertson. The album also includes several new Ruthie Foster compositions.

Let It Burn smolders, sizzles and ignites with an intensity born from Foster’s vibrant voice and indelible presence. In an early review in the Los Angeles Times, critic Randall Roberts noted, “To call Ruthie Foster a blues singer is to miss a big chunk of her allure as a vocal stylist, one who draws from a range of influences on her deep, soulful Let It Burn.” Texas Music Magazine called the album “not only organic but revelatory,” and Blues Revue’s online BluesWax.com said, “Let It Burn can not be overlooked.”